Department for Communities and Local Government

Housing: Prices

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the claim by the Intergenerational Foundation that high house prices increased segregation in society.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: We accept that our failure for many years not to build enough homes has serious consequences. House prices have risen faster then incomes; while renters are paying, on average 50 per cent of their income in rent which makes saving for a deposit all the more difficult. This means that the dream of home ownership is further away for younger people today when compared to previous generations.This Government is committed to solving the housing crisis by every means possible. That means taking action to ensure that we build more homes in this country. We have doubled the housing budget to almost £20 billion over the next five years, including £8 billion to deliver over 400,000 affordable homes by 2021.We have also taken steps to help people on the path to home ownership. Our Help to Buy: Equity Loan has helped over 91,000 households to buy a new-build home since the scheme was introduced in 2013. 81 per cent of these sales have gone to first-time buyers.But we recognise the need to go further. That’s why we launched the £3 billion Home Building Fund that will help deliver 225,000 badly-needed new homes on sites throughout England. Further measures will be included in a Housing White Paper later this autumn.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Energy: Self-sufficiency

Lord Vinson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the strategic importance of self-sufficiency in energy for the UK’s national security.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The security of the UK’s energy supply is an important factor in the national security of the country and featured prominently in the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review, published last year. The government also produces an annual assessment of the security of the UK’s energy supply which considers the availability of electricity and gas to meet consumer demand in Great Britain over the next four years. The strategically important contributions of both domestic energy production and diversity of supply are included in this analysis.

Energy: Self-sufficiency

Lord Vinson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support the development of smaller reactors and the use of fracking for gas in order to strengthen the UK’s self-sufficiency in energy.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Government is committed to ensuring the UK has a secure and resilient energy system while meeting our climate change obligations and keeping bills as low as possible. Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and shale gas have the potential to play a part in achieving this.The Government has committed to investing at least £250 million over the next five years in nuclear research and development, which will include support for SMRs. In March 2016, the Government launched the first phase of a competition to identify the best value SMR for the UK, as well as allocating up to £30m over the next 5 years for an SMR-enabling advanced manufacturing programme to develop skills capacity.The Government supports the exploration of our shale gas resources in a safe and sustainable way. The shale gas resources beneath Britain have the potential to bolster our energy security and lead to jobs and economic growth. UK geology is promising but we make no assumptions about production levels. We need exploration to determine the potential.The Government has been clear that shale development must be safe and environmentally sound.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Trade Promotion: USA

Baroness Barker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the budget of the UK Trade Office in Raleigh, North Carolina for (1) 2016–17, and (2) 2017–18.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The British Government Office in Raleigh will be run by the member of staff hired locally in the US. Costs are expected to be low and limited to salary, office space rental and discretionary budget for travel and representational activities.

Trade Promotion: USA

Baroness Barker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what performance targets they have set for the UK Trade Office in Raleigh, North Carolina for (1) 2016–17, and (2) 2017–18.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The new UK Government Office in Raleigh, North Carolina will promote a broad range of British prosperity interests, including trade and investment and engagement with industry, research and development and higher education institutions. Performance objectives will be agreed with a broad range of HMG stakeholders, including the Department for International Trade, the UK Science and Innovation Network and policy teams in the British Embassy in Washington DC. The Office will be managed and supported by Her Majesty's Consul General in Atlanta.

Trade Promotion: USA

Baroness Barker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much inward investment the UK Trade Office in Raleigh, North Carolina is expected to generate in (1) 2017–18, and (2) 2018–19.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The British Government Office in Raleigh, North Carolina will contribute to inward investment objectives in support of the Department for International Trade’s targets for the South East United States. These targets are set by sector. North Carolina has one of the fastest growing economies in the United States. Our office there will allow us to explore opportunities for collaboration with the many institutions and businesses located in Raleigh’s Research Triangle Park.

Baltic States: Sovereignty

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to mark the centenary of the independence of the Baltic states, and in particular the role played by the Royal Navy in protecting Estonia and its neighbours from the Soviet Navy.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Preparations are underway for the centenary celebrations in the Baltic States. The Royal Navy played a significant role in the war for independence in Estonia and Latvia and we hope the Senior Service will be able to feature in the 2018 and 2019 celebrations. The British Army and Royal Air Force will also be involved in marking these celebrations. The UK Government will be represented at centenary events in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Department for International Development

St Helena: Airports

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 25 July (HL1170), who is responsible for arranging the promised meeting to brief members of the House on the airport at St Helena, and when it is expected to be held.

Lord Bates: DFID are holding a briefing meeting for all interested peers on St Helena airport on 25 October, between 13:00 and 14:00 in Room 10a (House of Lords). Invitations were issued on 5 October.

St Helena: Airports

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what compensation claims have been received by the government of St Helena as a result of the delay in opening the airport to commercial traffic, and how those claims are being dealt with.

Lord Bates: As far as we are aware, the St Helena Government has not received any claims for compensation following the identification of wind shear at St Helena Airport.

Military Intervention

Lord Vinson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to classify the cost of armed intervention to achieve regime change as overseas aid.

Lord Bates: No - the use of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for general military activities is circumscribed; ODA can only be used in well-defined training on a limited list of topics consistent with development objectives, for example in human rights and humanitarian law.

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the consequences to date of the reduction in the foreign aid budget to the Palestinian Authority between 2013 and 2016.

Lord Bates: The UK provided £88 million in financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) from 2013-2016. UK aid has supported the PA to deliver basic services and promote economic growth. The PA continues to face challenges to ensure fiscal stability. As the Development Secretary is new to her role, she is conducting a full examination of DFID’s work in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including UK financial assistance to the PA.

Department for Education

Children's Centres

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 1 August (HL1311), whether they intend to publish the response to the consultation on Sure Start; and if not, why not.

Lord Nash: I refer Lord Beecham to my Written Answer on 13 September to HL1466. The Prime Minister has been clear that tackling poverty and disadvantage, and delivering real social reform, will be a priority for this Government. We will consider future policy on children’s centres as part of this. We will provide further detail in due course and will make clear how stakeholders and members of the public can contribute.

Schools: Finance

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they havemade in developing a new formula for school funding; and when the new formula will be applied.

Lord Nash: In July, the Secretary of State committed to introduce national funding formulae for schools and high needs from financial year 2018-19. We are considering the options carefully, taking into account the need to give schools and local authorities stability, and the importance of getting these historic reforms right. We will set out detailed proposals later in the autumn, and make decisions early next year, for the new system to be in place from April 2018.

Schools: Admissions

Baroness Humphreys: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to allowing the parents of children born prematurely to nominate their child’s due date, rather than the actual date of birth, when applying for school places.

Lord Nash: We have announced our intention to support summer born children by allowing them to delay entry to the reception year until they are five and for those children to remain with that cohort as they progress through school. As part of this work we are giving careful consideration to how we can best implement any new arrangements we might put in place, and how we can best support premature children into school. We want to support these children in the best way we can, however, it is important that we take the time to consider the wider impact of any policy changes.

Academies: Admissions

Baroness Humphreys: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of children born between (1) 1 September and 30 April, and (2) 1 May and 31 August, were admitted to academy schools in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Lord Nash: The department does not hold a dataset which contains both a child’s date of birth and the type of school they attend. The amount of data linkage across datasets for separate years that would be required to answer the question would incur disproportionate costs.

Social Services: Children

Lord Ramsbotham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what conclusions they have drawn from the research commissioned by the Department for Education in 2010 into the development of government guidance on governance arrangements in children’s services: Research governance in children’s services: the scope for new advice.

Lord Nash: This report highlighted the importance of governance and ethical consideration in children’s services research. The report suggested that at the time of the research, local practice was variable, but there were, and still are, a number of accepted research governance arrangements in place for local authorities and other research organisations to seek guidance and approval, including the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS), the Social Research Association, the NSPCC, and university ethics boards. The Department for Education has concluded that these arrangements are the best route for local authorities and external research organisations to obtain external guidance on research governance and ethics.Following publication of the report, the Department, in consultation with the ADCS Research Group, has developed ethics guidance and an ethics checklist for its own funded research and evaluation. This is based on the Government Social Research Professional Guidance, which sets out the principles that should be used when conducting social research for the Government. It states that those conducting, commissioning or managing Government social research have a responsibility to ensure that research is conducted using appropriate methods and that the rights and interests of all those involved in the research process are protected. Research should be conducted in a manner that:ensures valid, informed consent is obtained before individuals participate in research (for children under 16, parents/legal guardians as well as the children themselves must be approached for consent to participate);takes reasonable steps to identify and remove barriers to participation;avoids personal and social harm; andprotects the confidentiality of information about research participants and their identities.

Schools: Registration

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to help the Local Government Association prevent children being taught in illegal schools.

Lord Nash: We are determined to keep children safe in and out of school and have made it very clear that it is an offence to operate an unregistered independent school. In January 2016, we announced funding for Ofsted to establish a dedicated team of specialist inspectors to investigate such settings and since that time, there has been a significant escalation of Ofsted investigations.The Department for Education and Ofsted are working closely with local authorities to identify and tackle illegal schools, and close collaboration has resulted in the closure of many such settings.

Faith Schools: Admissions

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consultation they have held on the proposal to remove the 50 per cent cap on religious selection for existing schools as well as new schools, and which groups they have consulted.

Lord Nash: On 9th September the Prime Minister announced that we will remove the 50 per cent cap for new faith free schools and consult on a new set of much more effective requirements to ensure that new faith schools are properly inclusive. The consultation is available to view at consult.education.gov.uk/ under ‘Schools that work for everyone'. We would welcome your views on our proposals.

Faith Schools: Admissions

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of recent polling of the views of parents on religious selection in state-funded schools.

Lord Nash: We are consulting on proposals to enable more high quality providers of schools to establish new schools and we are keen to hear the views of parents as part of the consultation. Many faith schools are successful and popular with parents and we want to provide sufficient high quality places to meet demand. We will take account of all the responses received when considering the government’s response to the consultation.

St Richard Reynolds Catholic Primary School

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the admission arrangements of St Richard Reynolds Catholic Primary School in Richmond.

Lord Nash: The Department does not actively police the admission arrangements of individual schools.Each school has an admission authority to set its admission arrangements and ensure those arrangements comply with the School Admissions Code (“the Code”). The admission authority for St Richard Reynolds Catholic Primary School is the School’s governing body.If a parent has concerns about the admission arrangements of a school they can object to the Schools’ Adjudicator. If the Adjudicator finds that the school’s arrangements are unlawful, the admission authority must revise their arrangements to ensure they comply with the Code and other admissions legislation.

Academies: Capital Investment

Lord Blunkett: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the timetable for the announcement of successful bids for the pilot scheme for capital loans to multi-academy trusts.

Lord Nash: We will notify multi-academy trusts (MATs) who have applied for the MAT capital loan pilot of their outcomes shortly.

Ministry of Justice

Tribunals

Baroness Thomas of Winchester: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the consultation on transforming the tribunal system Transforming our Justice System is not cross-referenced to the Department for Work and Pensions consultations website, given its relevance to the appeals process for Personal Independence Payment.

Lord Keen of Elie: The noble Lady will be aware that the Government is investing £1 billion to modernise our world-leading justice system. That means creating a system that is just, proportionate and accessible. The ‘Transforming our Justice System’ consultation is about the administration of justice across all courts and tribunals and not one specific area. My officials are engaging with appropriate stakeholders, including disability groups, on relevant matters.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Voluntary Work: Young People

Lord Ouseley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen on 16 September (HL1556), how many young people participated in the National Citizen Service programmes during (1) 2014, and (2) 2015; how those participants were recruited; and how much expenditure was incurred in each year.

Lord Ashton of Hyde: In 2014, 57,789 young people took part in NCS throughout England. The number of young people who took part in the programme in 2015 will be released as part of the independent evaluation of the 2015 programme in due course. Information on annual NCS expenditure can be found in the published NCS Trust accounts, which are available online through Companies House.All recruitment is the responsibility of the NCS Trust, the independent organisation which delivers NCS. Recruitment is carried out through the NCS supply chain which includes more than 200 delivery organisations. NCS recruitment primarily takes place in schools, but young people can also sign up through the NCS website. A range of other local channels support NCS recruitment, including partnerships with local authorities, youth groups, community and voluntary organisations, as well as NCS graduates.

BBC: Finance

Lord Campbell of Pittenweem: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to reinstate direct funding of the BBC monitoring service and the BBC World Service.

Lord Ashton of Hyde: The World Service is one of BBC's most distinctive services and it is a vital part of UK's soft power influence around the world. The government has protected licence fee funding for the​ World Service at £254m a year for the next five years, with additional Exchequer funding of £34m in 2016/17 and £85m per year for the following three years.​BBC Monitoring provides a valuable service to the Government in monitoring and recording media output around the world. It is important that BBC has full editorial and managerial independence and integrity in the provision of BBC Monitoring, and this includes funding decisions. However, BBC Monitoring must be provided in accordance with the Monitoring Agreement agreed between BBC and the Cabinet Office.

Department for Work and Pensions

Supported Housing: Housing Benefit

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of supported housing properties likely to be affected by the proposed reduction in housing benefit, and whatis their estimate of the range of weekly costs to tenants of such properties.

Lord Freud: Supported accommodation plays a vital role in the lives of many vulnerable people. That is why on 15 September 2016 we announced, via a Written Ministerial Statement, that we would be deferring the application of Local Housing Allowance Rates in the social sector for supported housing until 2019/20, at which point we will bring in a new funding model which will ensure that the sector continues to be funded at current levels, taking into account the effect of Government policy on social sector rents.

Supported Housing: Finance

Baroness Hollins: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what guarantees they plan to give to people with a learning disability that they will continue to have their right to independent living respected following the introduction of the new funding system for supported housing.

Lord Freud: Supported accommodation plays a vital role in the lives of many vulnerable people. A safe and stable and supportive place to live can be the key to unlocking better outcomes for people and for many it is a stepping stone to independent living in the longer term. The Government values the role supported housing plays and is committed to encouraging further development to meet future demand.The Secretary of State confirmed in his written Ministerial Statement to Parliament on 15th September that the Government will shortly be publishing a consultation document on supported housing.

Supported Housing: Housing Benefit

Baroness Hollins: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many respondents to the first consultation on reforming housing benefit for supported housing in 2011 considered the idea of a localised pot to support the right of disabled people to live independently.

Lord Freud: The consultation in 2011 sought views on a wide variety of options, and received a range of viewpoints, reflecting the diversity of the sector. It did not consider whether localised funding would support the right of disabled people to live independently.

Supported Housing: Finance

Baroness Hollins: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the introduction of the new funding system for supported housing, what guarantees they plan to give that guidelines for local authorities will be sufficiently robust to ensure that there are no trade-offs between different groups in need of supported housing.

Lord Freud: The Secretary of State announced in a Written Ministerial Statement on 15 September 2016 that a formal consultation document will be published shortly. This consultation will consult on appropriate safeguards to ensure that funding continues to support vulnerable groups and promotes the supply of supported housing.

Supported Housing: Finance

Baroness Hollins: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have for monitoring the impact of the new funding system for supported housing on people with a learning disability after 2019.

Lord Freud: The Secretary of State confirmed in his written Ministerial Statement to Parliament on 15th September that the Government will shortly be publishing a consultation document on supported housing.

Disability: Employment

Lord Ramsbotham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the findings of the recent report Realising Aspirations for All by the charity Sense.

Lord Freud: We welcome the Sense report, Realising Aspirations for All and its findings. We want all disabled and people with a long term health condition to fulfil their potential and achieve their aspirations.We will soon publish a Green Paper on work and health and conduct a consultation to understand how every individual can have the opportunity to work and share in the economic and health benefits that work brings, regardless of their health condition or disability. We will engage with Sense and other key stakeholders as part of the Green Paper consultation.

Working Mothers

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support structure they have put in place for women who are returning to the workforce after they have had children.

Lord Freud: We are helping women to return to the workforce after they have had children through the support provided by Jobcentre Plus. Work Coaches provide personalised support, tailored to meet the needs and requirements of parents, helping them to find work that fits with their individual circumstances. The Flexible Support Fund allows Work Coaches to address barriers to employment and support parents into work. This can be used in a variety of ways including paying for travel and childcare to allow parents to undertake training, attend interviews or start work. We are also putting in place a new package of government support that will make childcare more affordable and more accessible. This will build on the support already offered and will mean more parents have choice, security and peace of mind when it comes to being in work and supporting their family. Parents on Universal Credit have been offered more generous support from 11 April 2016, where they are able to claim up to 85% of childcare costs, compared to 70% previously. This is up to a monthly limit of £646 for one child or £1,108 for two or more children, up to the age of 16. The Government currently offers 15 hours of free childcare for all three and four year olds and some of the most disadvantaged two year olds in England. From September 2017, this free childcare offer will be doubled for working parents of three and four year olds in England from 15 to 30 hours per week. We are also introducing Tax-Free Childcare, which will be available to around two million households to help pay for childcare costs from early 2017. For every £8 parents pay into an online account, the Government will pay £2 – up to a maximum contribution of £2,000 per child each year, for children aged up to 12. Parents of disabled children will receive extra support worth up to £4,000 per year per child, until their child is 17.

Ministry of Defence

Defence Equipment: Procurement

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what commercial risk assessments are undertaken by (1) the Ministry of Defence, and (2) Defence Equipment and Support, into the financial stability of (a) UK-based suppliers of equipment, and (b) overseas suppliers of equipment.

Earl Howe: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) routinely carries out financial health checks on all potential contractors prior to contract award to ensure they have sufficient financial resources to deliver the contract. These checks, which include a review of a company's audited accounts and turnover, are conducted in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011.This process is reiterated in all competitive and single source tender documentation issued to tenderers prior to any contract award. Where justified, the MOD can exclude potential suppliers who pose an unacceptable risk to public money.

Home Office

Borders: Northern Ireland

Baroness Goudie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have ever considered using drones to monitor Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit border with the Republic of Ireland and the European Union;whether they have any plans to do so; and if not, whether they intend explicitly to rule it out.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The Common Travel Area (CTA) arrangement pre-dates the EU and leaders in Ireland and the United Kingdom, including the Northern Ireland Executive have been unequivocal - all want to protect this arrangement.To date the use of drones has not been considered as a method of monitoring the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland post-Brexit. Indeed regulation in the UK does not permit the use of drones beyond line of sight . Discussions between the Taoiseach and the Prime Minister have underlined their desire to work together to find a creative and innovative solution and to maintain the closest possible relationship following the UK’s exit from the EU.We will continue the high level of collaboration with Ireland on the future of the CTA once the UK has left the EU, avoiding the imposition of fixed immigration controls and being clear that there will be no immediate changes to our practices surrounding the CTA.

Asylum: Children

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many unaccompanied young asylum seekers have arrived in the UK in the past 12 months; and where they have been sent.

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the statement by the Minister of State for Immigration, Mr Robert Goodwill MP, in his letter to Lord Roberts of Llandudno of 12 September, CTS Reference M9899/16, that "over 3,000 unaccompanied children arrived in the UK in 2015", where those children were from, and where they were sent in the UK.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: Annual Figures on the number of claims for asylum from Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC), including by country of nationality, are published quarterly by the Home Office in the Immigration Statistics release. A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics April to June 2016, is available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2016.The Government is committed to ensuring that there is a more equitable distribution of UASC across the country and that no one authority has to care for more UASC than they are able to. That is why we introduced the voluntary National Transfer Scheme and have consulted with every region in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on their capacity. In order to continue the success of the voluntary scheme more local authorities will need to participate and offer places for unaccompanied children from councils which are caring for disproportionately high numbers.



Immigration Stats - April - June 2016
(PDF Document, 169.69 KB)

Asylum: Children

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what contingency plans are in place for the young asylum seekers in Calais when the camp there closes.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: Although the decision to clear the camp in Calais is a matter for the French Government, the UK and France remain committed to working together protecting our shared border in Calais and addressing the humanitarian challenges in the camps.The Home Secretary reaffirmed this when she met her French counterpart in August. Since the beginning of this year, over 130 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Europe have been accepted for transfer to the UK under the family reunion provisions of the Dublin Regulation, of whom over 80 are from France. We continue to support the French Government to provide alternative accommodation for those in Calais, including thousands of new places in reception centres across France to accommodate migrants and unaccompanied children. The French Government continues to urge anyone who does not want to live in the makeshift camps in Calais to engage with the French authorities who will provide accommodation and support.

HM Treasury

Cider: Excise Duties

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to change the current duty structure for cider in the light of their statement that alcohol duties should be directly proportional to alcohol content.

Lord Young of Cookham: Current rules require that cider duty is structured in bands according to the strength of the product. The government continues to keep all taxes under review, and in that context is considering the views of stakeholders.

Monetary Policy

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will review the impact of quantitative easing on investment and on savings to determine whether it is of greater benefit to one or the other.

Lord Young of Cookham: The independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is responsible for setting monetary policy to deliver its primary objective of maintaining price stability. As the MPC remit makes clear, ensuring price stability is an essential pre-requisite for economic prosperity. The MPC is accountable to both Parliament and the public, through regular reports and evidence given to the Treasury Committee. The Bank of England has previously produced analysis of the distributional effects of asset purchases on different groups in society. At the August Inflation Report hearing on 7 September the Bank committed to updating this analysis.

Financial Services: Marketing

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to restrict the advertising and promotion of primary option trading and investment to retail investors in the UK by firms based in Cyprus and Malta.

Lord Young of Cookham: The government takes this issue very seriously. The government will introduce measures to strengthen investor protection when it transposes the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II). This will include powers for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to prohibit or restrict the marketing, distribution or sale of financial instruments, including relevant binary options where there are significant investor protection concerns. These powers will apply from 3 January 2018.

Northern Ireland Office

Parades Commission

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the rules and procedures of the Northern Ireland Parades Commission were most recently reviewed, and when the next review will be.

Lord Dunlop: The Public Processions (NI) Act 1998 requires the Parades Commission to keep the procedural rules and guidelines it issues under that Act under review and empowers it to, from time to time, revise the whole or any part of the procedural rules and guidelines and issue the revised versions. The rules and guidelines are reviewed on an annual basis; the timing of such reviews is a matter for the Parades Commission.

Parades Commission

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government in what way the Northern Ireland Parades Commission is accountable to them and to the courts.

Lord Dunlop: The Parades Commission operates independently of Government in line with the provisions contained in the Public Processions (NI) Act 1998.The Commission is accountable to the courts for its operational decisions.The Commission is accountable to the Northern Ireland Office for the management of its resources.

Parades Commission

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government in what way the Northern Ireland Parades Commission meets international treaty obligations on human rights.

Lord Dunlop: The duties and functions of the Northern Ireland Parades Commission are set out in the Public Processions (NI) Act 1998. The Act is compliant with international treaty obligations on human rights.